The name “United Nations” was suggested by the 32nd President of the United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1942 during World War II, to his close friend, Winston Churchill, the then Prime Minister of United Kingdom. It is said that Churchill was in Washington D.C. visiting and was having a bath in the bathtub when FDR was wheeled in and suggested this name. Both of them thought the name made more sense in wake of the organisation than “Alliances”.
The UN Headquarter in New York, USA, is international territory and does not meet all of New York City’s fire safety and building codes. The UN also has its own Post Office and postage stamps to send mails. Even though they are used more often for collectibles, the U.N. stamps are still used for mailing letters across the world.
India, to this date, holds the record for delivering the longest speech at United Nations Assembly in 1957. V.K. Krishna Menon delivered the passionate speech on India’s stand on Kashmir, the disputed territory between India and Pakistan. The speech went on for 8 long hours and ended only when V.K. Krishna collapsed out of exhaustion and had to be hospitalised. He later came in the assembly next day to continue his speech and completed another hour with a doctor monitoring his blood pressure beside him. Menon’s dedication towards his country and his speech is known as the epic filibuster (Wikipedia), because it closed Pakistan’s argument on Kashmir once and for all and gave the then Indian Prime Minister, Dr. Jawaharlal Nehru time to move successfully and consolidate Indian power in Kashmir.
During a speech before the United Nations in 1987, President Ronald Reagan spoke longingly for the world unity that would happen if aliens invaded Earth.
He said:
“Perhaps we need some outside universal threat to make us recognize this common bond. I occasionally think how quickly our differences worldwide would vanish if we were facing an alien threat from outside this world.”
Alfred Hitchcock, director of the 1959 film North by Northwest, wanted to film at the UN but didn't have permission. So actor Cary Grant was filmed by a hidden camera while approaching the entrance. Other UN scenes were done using a sound stage and special effects.
In The Blacklist season six episode, "The Corsican" (2019), Raymond "Red" Reddington arranges for a bombmaker to defuse a building-destroying bomb in the United Nations Security Council Chamber. Since the UN building has been cleared as the defusing is taking place, Reddington takes the opportunity to walk into the empty General Assembly hall and give a speech from the podium to his associate, Dembe Zuma, about the actor Cary Grant and the potential medical and life-enhancing benefits of LSD.